"It's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible."
—Alan Rickman |
News
Words of the Wise: A Staged Reading
Festival of Women Playwrights USF's Performing Arts and Social Justice Department brings you several contemporary plays written by some of the most influential female playwrights of today. This isn’t your traditional staged readings! There will be a little staging, a little design and a lot of fun - all with scripts in hand. We are breaking the rules!
OPEN by Crystal Skillman Directed by Ken Sonkin
Thurs. April 11 at 8pm* Sat. April 20 at 5pm *Talkback with the playwright immediately following the performance. POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger Directed by Michelle Talgarow WORK HARD HAVE FUN MAKE HISTORY by Ruth Tang Directed by Reyna Brown THE FUTURE IS FEMALE by Nandita Shenoy Directed by Rinabeth Apostol All performances at The Studio Theater on Lone Mountain
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Workshop of New Musical: The Devil's Dating Service
In early Jan. 2024, Ken directed a private staged reading of The Devil’s Dating Service, a "Hellish New Musical about Looking for Love." Written by Maura Vaughn with music/lyrics by Alexander Eccles, it’s a full-length comedy/drama with a great score. This developmental reading featured some of the Bay Area’s finest talent including Andre Amarotico*, Michael Doppe, Michael Patrick Gaffney*, Brian Herndon*, Gwen Herndon, Annmarie Macry, Melinda Meeng, Matthew Morishige, Cathleen Riddley*, Megan Robertson, Jomar Tagatac*, and Colin Thompson*. Stage managed by Julianna King and directed by Ken Sonkin.
(* = Member of Actors’ Equity Association)
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The Devil’s Dating Service follows the fallen angel “Lilith” as she navigates between “Lucifer” and the strangely prescient “Bartender.” As the “Demons of Modern Dating” jockey for their rightful position in Hell, the love triangle comes into full, desperate, and allegorical view. And who gets stuck in the middle? The humans, of course. Jam-packed with songs you'll be whistling for weeks and characters you'll both love and hate… and possibly want to date, The Devil's Dating Service is a poignant and hilarious look at the bumpy road to happily ever after.
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Maura Vaughn (Author) Originally from Boston, Maura has been a professional actor and teacher of acting for over twenty-five years. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she trained at Circle in the Square. As a performer, she has been fortunate enough to have graced stages in New York, across the United States, and in Europe. For the past twenty-five years, she has been the Director of Theatre at The Branson School in Ross, CA. She is the author of The Anatomy of a Choice: An Actor's Guide to Text Analysis.
Alexander Eccles (Composer, Lyricist) Based in San Francisco, Alexander is a classical pianist, singer/songwriter, and teacher. He holds degrees from Stanford University in English, with Distinction (Creative Writing focus) and History; he published an award-winning thesis on Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit. He has been the singer/songwriter for art-rock bands King Baldwin and Dubious Ranger; as King Baldwin, he arranges and performs piano versions of classic gaming themes on YouTube. He has been commissioned to write/record music for dance performances, private events, and theatrical works. He is currently scoring an educational video game about the American Revolutionary War. |
Extreme Acts at The Marsh SF
Creating soundscape for theater is one of Ken's passions. Excited to be working on a new piece with old friends, he is designing sound for Lynne Kaufman’s new plays, Extreme Acts.
Comprised of 2 one-act plays. I AM HERE dramatizes the path of a performance artist as she challenges the limits of endurance in life and love. I WITNESS examines the aftermath of an assault that forever alters the lives of both the accuser and the accused. Both plays explore encounters with the unknown. Written by Lynne Kaufman Directed by Molly Noble Performed by Arwen Anderson* & Johnny Moreno* (*Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association)
May 11 – June 2, 2024
Saturdays at 8pm | Sundays at 5pm |
Playwrights Lab Short Play Festival: Love Stories
Back in the saddle again! After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, The Playwrights Lab is back in person! Lab playwrights have come up with some heartfelt and hilarious "love stories" for the annual Short Play Festival which returns on Monday, Nov. 6th @ 6:30pm at The Mill Valley Library. Called "An evening of seven ten-minute plays on the many aspects of love," Ken is delighted to return to the Lab, directing two short plays: Romy and Jul on The Scape by Mercilee Jenkins and Hopper's House by Hal Gelb.
Each year, The Mill Valley Library hosts several staged readings in collaboration with The Playwrights Lab. Residing at the library since 2013, The Lab is a group of professional Bay Area playwrights who meet monthly to share plays with one another and to hone their work through collective input. Lab Playwrights have included Lynne Kaufman, Charles Brousse, Mercilee Jenkins, Dan Harder, John Levine, Naomi Newman, Bernie Weiner, Dyke Garrison, Cary Pepper, Martin Russell, E. H. Benedict, and Hal Gelb.
The Playwrights Lab audiences also enjoy some of the finest Bay Area actors including: Charles Dean, Joy Carlin, Geoff Hoyle,
L. Peter Calendar, Danielle Levin, Michael Patrick Gaffney, Julian Lopez-Morillas, Wanda McCaddon, Will Marchetti, Marcia Pizzo, Larry Hecht, Julia McNeal, Jennifer Le Blanc, Arwen Anderson, Robert Sicular, Carrie Paff, Brian Herndon, Maura Vaughn, David Kudler, Nancy Madden, Robert Estes, Dena Martinez, Josiah Polhemus, Nick Sholley, Patty Silver, Tamar Cohn, Michael Keys Hall, Gabe Ross, David Keith, Jessica Powell, Jack Powell, Joe Bellan, Courtney Walsh, Danielle Thys, and Jarion Monroe.
Each year, The Mill Valley Library hosts several staged readings in collaboration with The Playwrights Lab. Residing at the library since 2013, The Lab is a group of professional Bay Area playwrights who meet monthly to share plays with one another and to hone their work through collective input. Lab Playwrights have included Lynne Kaufman, Charles Brousse, Mercilee Jenkins, Dan Harder, John Levine, Naomi Newman, Bernie Weiner, Dyke Garrison, Cary Pepper, Martin Russell, E. H. Benedict, and Hal Gelb.
The Playwrights Lab audiences also enjoy some of the finest Bay Area actors including: Charles Dean, Joy Carlin, Geoff Hoyle,
L. Peter Calendar, Danielle Levin, Michael Patrick Gaffney, Julian Lopez-Morillas, Wanda McCaddon, Will Marchetti, Marcia Pizzo, Larry Hecht, Julia McNeal, Jennifer Le Blanc, Arwen Anderson, Robert Sicular, Carrie Paff, Brian Herndon, Maura Vaughn, David Kudler, Nancy Madden, Robert Estes, Dena Martinez, Josiah Polhemus, Nick Sholley, Patty Silver, Tamar Cohn, Michael Keys Hall, Gabe Ross, David Keith, Jessica Powell, Jack Powell, Joe Bellan, Courtney Walsh, Danielle Thys, and Jarion Monroe.
Open by Crystal Skillman Feb. 2023
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Thrilled be going back to Sebastopol, Ken will be the magic consultant on a beautiful play called Open by Crystal Skillman. This one-woman show stars North Bay favorite, Taylor Diffenderfer and is directed by the illustrious Lauren Heney. Called "a fragile love story about the ways in which we create our own realities and the power of belief," Open is a magic show that takes place in the main character’s mind. The audience has been summoned to play a critical role, but why? The Magician presents a myriad of tricks for our entertainment, while attempting the impossible. Is our faith in her illusions enough to rewrite the past? The clock is ticking, the show must go on, and we mustn’t look away.
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MAGIC * MUSIC * MADNESS
On Weds. Feb. 22, 2023, at one of his favorite Bay area theaters, Ken will be performing his comedy magic act as a part of MAGIC * MUSIC * MADNESS. Joining him at Main Stage West in Sebastopol will be two world-class magicians -- Jay Alexander (Marrakech Magic Theater, Robin Williams, Rolling Stones) and Matthew Holtzman, sleight-of-hand artist extraordinaire!
Hosted by Master Magician Jay Alexander* With Special Guest Matthew Holtzman One Night Only! Weds. Feb. 22, 2023 @ 7:30pm mainstagewest.com 104 N. Main Street Sebastopol, CA 95472 *For more info on Jay Alexander and The Marrakech Magic Theater, visit sanfranciscomagictheater.com |
Please choose one:
.....1. Stay on the couch in the dark with your remote and ...>>>..contemplate your pathetic life. .....2. Put some pants on and come have fun at the show |
USF Performing Arts & Social Justice
Celebrating eighteen years at the University of San Francisco, Ken teaches in the Performing Arts and Social Justice Program. He has directed main stage productions of Tartuffe, Angels in America: Perestroika, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, and Wild Boy (world premiere), as well as studio productions of A Christmas Carol, Goldberg Street, Almost, Maine, Reckless, Laundry & Bourbon, Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Country Wife. He is a recipient of a Jesuit Foundation Grant and has served as faculty advisor to The ASUSF College Players. He also teaches Acting Foundations, Acting II: Scene Study, Personal Clown Technique, and Careers in Theater.
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MAGIC at THE BATTERY
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For Halloween 2022, Ken performed his comedy magic/mime at San Francisco's private club The Battery for their spectacular event; Surreality: A Battery Masquerade. Described as "...bending actuality and unlocking your dreams at SURREALITY: A Battery Masquerade. For our 9th Annual Anniversary & Halloween Party, expect elaborate masks, extravagant art, and a sensory wonderland. Explore the absurd, fanciful and bizarre." Also performing were his old magic friends Paul Nathan and Jade!
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Fragile Decisions at The Marsh
On March 1st, 2021, Monday Night MarshStream presented a virtual performance of Fragile Decisions by Elizabeth Appell. The solo show starred Isabel Siragusa and was directed by Ken Sonkin.
A young woman embarks on a journey as she faces the reality of her genetics with grit and humor. Tomasina falls in love, wrestles with her family’s fragile history, and asks one of life’s most important questions: should she have a child? Funny, poignant, and probing, Fragile Decisions was originally conceived as a short story and published in The Washington Blues Journal. After recently being chosen for the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition, Appell decided to develop the piece into a one-woman play starring Bay Area actress, Isabel Siragusa. In the vein of Lily Tomlin's Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and John Leguizamo’s Sexaholic, Siragusa is a tour de force as she swimmingly brings to life all of the characters in and out of “Tomasina’s” consciousness. |
Elizabeth Appell is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. A member of San Francisco Dramatists group and Three Girls Theatre, her play Confessions of a Catholic Child was produced at the Exit Theater in San Francisco. Confessions as well as Moon Walkers have both enjoyed productions at the Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles. Her scripts Chalk Lines and Moon Walkers were both semi-finalists at the O’Neill Playwriting Conference. Two of her short films, Easy Made Hard and Warnings from the Bathtub have won numerous awards including Gold at Worldfest and a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. For more info, go to: readelizabeth.com
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Isabel Siragusa has a degree in Theater Studies from Yale University and has studied acting at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia, Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts, and the American Conservatory Theater. She has performed all over Northern California as well as in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Favorite Bay Area credits include Desdemona in Othello (African American Shakespeare Company), Tricia in Dog Sees God (Left Coast Theater Company), and Caroline in the world premiere of Wild Boy (Dragon Productions Theatre Company). Isabel also regularly writes and performs with the Oakland-based sketch comedy troupe Running with Glitter. Learn more about Isabel at: isabelsiragusa.com
Zipia Interview: Experts Weigh In
On Current Job Market Trends
On Current Job Market Trends
In December of 2020, the job search website Zipia included Ken on a panel of experts concerning recent college graduates in the Performing Arts. "Given the change of course that has happened in the world, we wanted to provide expert opinions on what aspiring graduates can do to start off their careers in an uncertain economic climate. We wanted to know what skills will be more important, where the economy is doing relatively well, and if there will be any lasting effects on the job market."
We spoke to professors and experts from several universities and companies to get their opinions on where the job market for recent graduates is heading, as well as how young graduates entering the industry can be adequately prepared. Click here for the full interview.
The Oldest Living Cater Waiter
Streaming at 42nd Street Moon In the summer 0f 2019, Ken was elated to share Michael's story again... this time produced by 42nd Street Moon. Winner of the San Francisco Fringe Festival, "Michael Patrick Gaffney is a tour de force in this delightful one-man show. The Oldest Living Cater Waiter is original, well-served and easy to digest. If there were Michelin stars for theater, it would get three."
--SF Examiner Hungry for some great theater? Michael Patrick Gaffney’s original one-man show, The Oldest Living Cater Waiter, offers up delicious insights into his complicated and hilarious careers as both a professional actor and a high-end waiter to the stars. Gaffney cooks up numerous characters from his past with just the right amount of sauciness, Shakespeare, and a soupçon of self-discovery. Come celebrate one man’s journey of a life in the theater.
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Moonbeam Virtual Theatre Streaming Oct. 15-25, 2020! |
For more info, Click here.
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National Alliance of Acting Teachers
In the fall of 2020, Ken was pleased to be included in the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Their mission is to cultivate, support and inspire leaders in the field of actor training. "What we do as acting teachers matters—not only to us and to our students, but also, perhaps more importantly, to the integrity and artistic fabric of our society as a whole." Their membership currently spans 30 states and more than 80 actor training programs.
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“A play about people, bees, and the galaxy;
a feast for the imagination." —The London Times |
The Perfect Swarm: Humble Boy at CCCT
Excited to return to Contra Costa Civic Theatre after his 2015 smash hit The Foreigner, last year, Ken directed Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy. Winner of the 2001 Critics' Circle Best New Play Award and The People's Choice Best New Play Award, Jones has crafted a touching, funny, and ultimately mesmerizing depiction of contemporary family life. All is not well in the Humble Hive. Thirty-five year old Felix Humble is a Cambridge astro-physicist in search of a unified string theory. Following the sudden death of his father, Felix returns to his middle England home and his difficult and demanding mother, where he soon realizes that his search for unity must include his own chaotic home life. With loose ties to Shakespeare's Hamlet, Humble Boy is a meditation on our closest relationships in the 21st century. For more information, Click here.
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Comedy Magic
Voted #1 Street Performer in San Francisco, Ken delivers a fast moving combination of physical comedy, magic, dance, and juggling all choreographed to music. "A modern-day Harpo Marx" —Toronto Globe and Mail. He has appeared in concert with Jay Leno, Red Skelton, Ellen DeGeneres, Howie Mandel, Paula Poundstone, Dave Chapelle, Harry Anderson, The Manhattan Transfer, The Drifters, Donnie & Marie Osmond, Waylon Jennings, played The Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, and The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, headlined at The Ice House, The Comedy and Magic Club (Hermosa Beach), The Punchline, The Improv, The LA Playboy Club, Hollywood's Legendary Magic Castle, and performed for Queen Elizabeth II of England!!
Click here to learn more about Ken's Magic! |
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